TORONTO (Kurdistan 24) – A Toronto city councillor and members of the local Kurdish community have called for continued efforts from Kurds and non-Kurds in Canada and abroad to end genocide against the people of Kurdistan.
On Saturday, dozens of Kurds and members of the Canadian Parliament and local city council gathered at Toronto City Hall to witness history. For the first time in Canadian-Kurdish history, the Kurdistan flag was raised to honor the victims of the 1988 Halabja massacre.
The brutal genocide, which occurred during the former Iraqi regime’s Anfal campaign, killed nearly 5,000 people and injured 10,000 others.
Related Article: City of Toronto raises Kurdistan flag to honor Halabja genocide victims
Toronto City Councillor Jim Karygiannis, who was at the heart of the flag-raising initiative, said the crimes Saddam Hussein committed against the Kurdish people would never be forgotten.
“We’re going to remember what Saddam Hussein did, and we’re going to be joined by other nations as we say: never again,” he told Kurdistan 24 on Saturday following the flag raising ceremony.
“However, we got to be vigilant and make sure that the ‘never again,’ is really, truly never again,” Karygiannis added.
The Toronto city councillor also said he would join his colleagues and ask other cities in Canada and around the world to do the same thing next year.